Monday, June 5, 2017

SB 1, PN 902 (Corman) – This legislation establishes new SERS and PSERS pension benefit tiers for new state employees hired on or after January 1, 2019, and for new public school employees hired on or after July 1, 2019.  Chief among these changes would be the elimination of the current defined benefit plan, which would be replaced with a choice of two side-by-side hybrid pension plans that include both a defined benefit (DB) and a defined contribution (DC) components or a sole defined contribution (DC). Both hybrid plans would include a shared risk/shared gain component.  Under the bill, the normal retirement age for new employees enrolled in one of the hybrid plans changes from 62 to 67.  A vote of 40-9 was recorded.

SB 353, PN 377 (Rafferty) – This bill authorizes the Department of General Services to grant a parcel of land located in Chester County to the Pennhurst Memorial Preservation Alliance.  A vote of 49-0 was recorded.

SB 497, PN 876 (Vogel) – This bill eliminates the waste designation for current generation blast furnace, iron, and steel slag that is used onsite in processing or as an aggregate or that is sold for further production and commercial use.  A vote of 49-0 was recorded.

The Senate approved the following executive nominations by a vote of 49-0:

Alice Hart Hughes, State Board of Dentistry (reappointment)

Joanne Baird, State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure (reappointment)

Paul Richard Books, Sheriff – Blair County (new appointment)